Franco Colapinto’s manager sends furious ‘shut up’ message to his fans before Las Vegas Grand Prix

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Williams driver Franco Colapinto heads to the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend looking to recover from a woeful Sao Paulo Grand Prix. It was the first major setback of his fledgling F1 career.

Colapinto has been a revelation since he broke into F1 in August when James Vowles dropped Logan Sargeant. He’s scored five points, immediately pressured Alex Albon and, before the Sao Paulo GP, shown impressive consistency.

The Argentine had maintained a 100% record of top-12 finishes, both in Sprints and main races, prior to a sodden Sunday at Interlagos. He started down in 16th after crashing out in qualifying, and then hit the wall under the safety car in the race.

There were mitigating circumstances. The track was so wet at the time that numerous drivers were calling for a red flag – Haas’ Oliver Bearman said he was ‘trying not to die’.

And like Bearman, this was Colapinto’s first experience of driving in a wet F1 race. Even Fernando Alonso, a record-breaking 398-race veteran, had a shunt in qualifying.

Colapinto’s teammate Albon wasn’t even able to start the race, so significant was the damage after his Sunday morning accident. Williams amassed more than £1million worth of repairs at a single event.

Franco Colapinto’s manager demands an end to the ‘insults’ before Las Vegas Grand Prix

Colapinto’s management has faced criticism on social media for their handling of the Brazil weekend. But Jamie Campbell-Walter, one of those involved, has issued an enraged rebuke.

He insists his devotion to the 21-year-old can’t be questioned and that he doesn’t need to be told how to do his job. He’s confident that his client ‘will learn from’ what happened last time out.

For Colapinto to respond in Vegas, though, Campbell-Walter says the external noise must stop. The Williams man is bound to face questions about this statement on Thursday’s media day.

“Listen carefully because I will only say this once,” he wrote on his X account. “Stop with your opinions, stop with your insults and stop telling us how we should do our job. 

“I will deal with it and I don’t need anymore comments [sic]. I was here long before any of you supporting Franco and will be here long after.

“Everyone makes mistakes and he will learn from them. Let’s focus on Vegas and racing, but to do that, I need you all to shut up.”

The overlooked reason Franco Colapinto may have crashed twice in Brazil

Colapinto’s team have set a Vegas deadline to resolve his future. That means there could be an announcement in Nevada, or failing that in Qatar next weekend.

The Red Bull board has approved Colapinto as a signing for 2025. While it’s likely that he’ll slot into RB alongside Yuki Tsunoda if they can agree terms with Williams, a move straight to the top team hasn’t been ruled out.

The bar was low for Colapinto when he joined the grid. He simply had to be closer to Albon than Sargeant, by most accounts the weakest driver in F1 since the start of 2023.

But within months he was linked to one of the biggest names of the sport, and followed by one of its most vocal fanbases. His extraordinary rise has piled on additional pressure, and perhaps that was partly to blame for his errors in Brazil.